Cassian von Elvenstone was the Winter Duke, the final villain destined to die at the hero’s hands. And die he did—betrayed, broken, his empire crumbling into the snow. But instead of oblivion, he woke up in a cramped, magicless apartment in the modern world. The hero’s world. For fifteen years, he lived as “Luca.” He worked until his hands bled. He starved. He watched his pride slowly wither into nothing. And in that miserable existence, he discovered the horrifying truth: his entire life was just a novel. And the “hero” who killed him wasn’t a chosen savior—just a reader who transmigrated into the story, using his foreknowledge to cheat his way to victory. Now, fate has given him a second death, and a second chance. He awakens in his own world once more, exactly one year before the hero arrives. His magic is intact. His duchy is loyal. The script is waiting to be followed. But this time, Cassian knows the script. Every death flag. Every betrayal. Every trap. And he has no intention